the mess provided they have a clever
lawyer. I don't know but what the best plan is to tell this whole
business to Mr. Everett and see what he suggests. I imagine that his
advice will be to get help from the Customs house up the line, and then
lay in wait for them. There'll probably be a hot time taking them, so
you'll come in for a share of the excitement after all, Dick."

This having been settled, there was nothing more to do except to chat
away the time till morning. As they talked, the first faint flush of
dawn appeared in the east, giving promise of a fine day despite the
fact that the moonless night had hinted of rain.

Finally Garry looked at his watch.

"Just five o'clock," he announced. "In another few minutes we start for
the Everett home. By the way, that Miss Ruth is a brick."

He said it so enthusiastically that Dick and Phil looked at each other
and then burst into a shout of laughter. Both saw a chance to have a
little fun at the expense of their leader.

"What do you know about that, Phil," said Dick, giving Phil a nudge as
he spoke. "I believe upon my soul that Garry has been smitten with the
charms of the fair lady."

"Looks very much that way," responded Phil, falling into the spirit of
the joke.

Garry turned a dark red.

"Of all the confounded foolishness, that is the worst," he sputtered.
"Why, I've only seen the girl a couple of times."

"Methinks thou dost protest too much," quoted Dick.

"And as for me, I'll have something to tell a certain young lady back
home," announced Phil.

Garry again broke into indignant denials.

"By George, Phil, I only said that in joke, but now I think that I hit
the nail on the head," declared Dick. As a matter of fact, both he and
Phil were now sure that their joke was more flavored with truth than
jest.

Just as they were preparing to leave, they heard a distant rumble.

"There's a train headed this way. Wonder if it's a freight or a
passenger," remarked Phil.

"Must be a freight, there are no passengers scheduled to pass here at
this time of day," said Garry. "Shall we wait and watch it go by? That
seems to be the only thing in the way of excitement that is promised for
this morning."

The others being agreeable, they waited a moment. Soon the puffing
engine appeared at the curve, and the rumbling grinding cars passed
them. The boys amused themselves by checking off the various railroad
lines that were represented by the markings on the dif